There were intriguing insights about Trevor Scott, Brandon Spikes, Kyle Arrington, & Pat Chung, regarding their responsibilities on that play, and where the coaching Opportunities are. I highly recommend reading it.

That play ~ and so many like it ~ illustrate how valuable an effective Coverage MidFielder ~ "LineBacker", to you Earthlings ~ can be to a Defense, and how intense the Impact of a potentially phenomenalCoverage MidFielder like LaVonte David ~ or his absence ~ can be.

Hightower is actually pretty good in coverage despite his size, his absence really hurts this defense, especially when Spikes is forced into coverage. During the joint practices in camp Hightower was covering Sproles well.

Oh god, Lavonte David. I've been having nightmares about him since February thanks to you and Mayo, Grid. Is Gary Guyton up to anything these days?

It's nothing new that Spikes isn't the ideal coverage LB, and Hightower absolutely has the tools to be that guy and provide a versatile threat on passing downs. Aside from the play that ironically sidelined him, I have been underwhelmed, to say the least, with Mr. Hightower.

After 6 games of football we're calling Lavonte David a phenomenal coverage LB? Get real.

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I think you'll find he called him a potentially phenomenal coverage LB.

All three of those 2nd round undersized LB's are starting for their respective teams. Whilst I liked all three, the one I was least interested in is arguably doing the best right now in Bobby Wagner. Still early of course.

My intention is NOT to Dis the Patriots MidFielders, all three of whom I am very high on.

I wish, merely, to point out, first, that Pass Defense is a TEAM effort, and that the Secondary has perhaps been afforded more than its due allotment of Blame for recent transgressions...though much Blame is certainly due them...

And, second, that many of our issues are coaching-related, and, as such, can be expected to be resolved, come the Dark Depths of Winter...when it all really counts.

Chatham's breakdown shows the play as a failure by Spikes and the secondary. Spikes whiffs on a re-route, and Arrington loses the coverage battle even after knocking the receiver down off the line. That's execution, not coaching.

No, I'm saying that a player whiffing on a re-route is an execution error, not a failure of coaching. I'm saying that a player who wins decisively at the line of scrimmage yet still gets beat on the route is because of execution, not a coaching failure.

Neither is specifically coaching-related, which is the term you used in your post.

Chatham's breakdown shows the play as a failure by Spikes and the secondary. Spikes whiffs on a re-route, and Arrington loses the coverage battle even after knocking the receiver down off the line. That's execution, not coaching.

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Well, it shows that it is not all on the secondary but rather a complete breakdown of the defense. This article makes me think the defense is worse than I expected.

Well, it shows that it is not all on the secondary but rather a complete breakdown of the defense. This article makes me think the defense is worse than I expected.

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Glass half empty: The defense is error prone.

Glass half full: The errors appear slight.

Most of the stuff that killed the Pats Sun doesn't appear to be of the "they just aren't good enough" variety. Given the youth of the defense, the injuries that have gone around, and the current point we're at in the season I'll take little mistakes over that. If they drop another game before the bye or return from the bye in this same state I'll start panicking. For the time being I prefer to have hope that Wilson will improve and Spikes likely won't be in there in what looked like a passing down.

Why would it do that? Didn't you already know that Spikes was a major weakness in pass defense?

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Sure, but I think of that more on a one on one setting, where Spikes is covering someone. What Chatham was implying is that the little things are not being done to properly defend the pass. Hopefully, as others have stated, this can be corrected and the defense as a whole can improve.

Sure, but I think of that more on a one on one setting, where Spikes is covering someone. What Chatham was implying is that the little things are not being done to properly defend the pass. Hopefully, as others have stated, this can be corrected and the defense as a whole can improve.

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Chatham broke down one play. That play had bad coverage players getting beat in coverage aspects.

Spikes isn't magically going to become a good pass defense guy. It's not going to happen. He's not quick enough and he's not good enough in space. He's an "instinct + read + forward motion = hit or miss" guy, for better and for worse.

Thanks for this OTG. It's only been since the 2011 season that I've really become completely obsessed with this glorious game and have attempted to understand and appreciate the fundamental mechanics of how the game is played, i.e. all the plays that have to happen away from "the play" that you see watching where the football goes.

I think, understandably, the offense is the one I grasped the easiest; it's visually more thrilling as you're following the action, and because you know what "the play" is going to be (e.g. watching a run/pass attempt, etc.), it's easier to interpret and understand how all other plays made by the offense individually contribute to that play succeeding.

Because the defense's version of "the play" is dictated by where the offense puts the ball, it can be much more difficult to discern just how the pass rush, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties are all interrelated. Obviously I've grasped the basics of the relationships (no pass rush leaves the secondary out to dry, cornerbacks count on safeties for deep balls and whatnot), but a scenario such as, bear with me, a tackle missing an assignment after they've been switched based on the offensive play leading to a linebacker failing to contain a receiver that leads to the safety coming down to cover that receiver who has gotten deep which leads to the cornerback in one on one on a deep route and having to make a great play vs just do his job is immensely eye opening as to just how interdependent the defense is on one another.

I still think we have issues in our secondary, and am still happy overall with our linebackers, but this article has given me a lot of perspective on the intricacies of defensive play, and has made my rudimentary "Arrington was burned our secondary is horrible" logic that I was spewing on Sunday look pretty juvenile.